Waco, TX (Best E Casino) - Coming off their most convincing victory of the season, the 14th-ranked Missouri Tigers will try to continue their momentum this weekend when they take on the Baylor Bears in Big 12 play in Waco.
The Tigers rebounded nicely from a two-game slide this past weekend, as they routed Colorado 58-0 at home.
"I think my football team responded to the challenge of getting refocused and I'm very pleased with that," said head coach Gary Pinkel. "It's been a couple tough weeks. I have a bunch of great competitors, good kids. I thought overall it was a good win."
The victory was Missouri's first shutout since a 48-0 beating of Ball State in 2004 and its first conference blanking since a 48-0 pasting of Kansas in 1986. It also improved the team to 2-2 within the conference, leaving the Tigers in a three-way tie for first place in the North Division race.
As for Baylor, it wrapped up an unsuccessful two-game road trip with a 32-20 setback at Nebraska last weekend. The loss was the second straight and the fourth in five games for the Bears, who now stand at just 3-5 overall and only 1-3 in the Big 12. The team though, has been more competitive at home, where it has gone 3-2 thus far.
With regard to the all-time series, Missouri holds a 9-2 edge over Baylor and it has won all six meetings since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996. The teams last meet in 2005, a 31-16 victory by the Tigers in Columbia.
There are few teams in the nation as explosive as the Tigers, who are averaging a healthy 47.4 ppg behind an impressive 517.1 total ypg. The electric offense, which has committed only 10 turnovers, has scored 20 touchdowns on the ground and 24 through the air.
Quarterback Chase Daniel has been simply outstanding as expected and he has completed an efficient 76.9 percent of his throws for 2,675 yards, with 23 touchdowns against only six picks. The veteran gunslinger is also coming off a tremendous outing in which he threw for 305 yards and five touchdowns on 31- of-37 pass attempts of a 58-0 beating of Colorado this past weekend. Jeremy Maclin hauled in 11 of those passes for 134 yards and a pair of scores, while Chase Coffman had seven receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown.
On the year, Coffman leads the team with 63 catches and Maclin tops the roster with 800 yards and seven touchdowns. In the backfield, Derrick Washington paces a ground attack, which is averaging 156.1 ypg, with 611 yards and an impressive 13 touchdowns. He toted 17 times for 83 yards and a score in the win over Colorado last weekend.
Missouri's defense has been abused at times and came under heavy scrutiny following a 56-31 loss to Texas on October 18th. The unit though, rebounded in a huge way, as it held Colorado to a mere 199 total yards in a blanking last weekend.
"I think for our defense it was (big)," said coach Pinkel. "They've been getting beat up a little bit. I think that was real important to them. It's very special in this day and age, with all the points being scored across the county every Saturday afternoon. It's just very unusual to be able to and I'm real glad they got a chance to preserve that."
It was certainly something the Tigers could build off of, as they are now holding foes to 23.0 pg and 384.4 total ypg on the year. The unit even forced five sacks in the win, bringing its total to 20 for the season. Stryker Sulak accounted for two of those sacks and he also forced a fumble, while Brock Christopher had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Sulak leads Missouri with 10.5 TFLs and six sacks on the year, but Sean Weatherspoon is probably the most important player on this defense. Weatherspoon has 2.5 sacks to his credit and he tops the roster in tackles (83), TFLs (11) and interceptions (three).
The Bears are nearly averaging the same amount of rushing yards (186.9 ypg) as passing (185.2 ypg) and that balance has helped them produce 27.2 ppg. Baylor has also done an outstanding job of protecting the ball, committing a mere seven turnovers.
Quarterback Robert Griffin is a big reason for the low turnover total, as he has yet to throw an interception in 175 pass attempts this season. The freshman has completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 1,405 yards and nine scores and he is also a dual-threat, leading the team with 554 rushing yards and nine more touchdowns. In last weekend's loss to Nebraska, Griffin posted his third 100-yard rushing effort of the season, as he finished with 121 yards and a score on 16 carries. He however, wasn't nearly as effective with his arm, completing only 9-of-20 tosses for 134 yards. Jay Finley added 88 yards and score on 14 carries in the loss, helping Baylor amass 216 yards on the ground. On the year, Finley ranks second with 526 yards and five touchdowns on the ground and he is averaging solid 6.0 yards per carry.
Baylor has had some struggles on defense this season and enters the contest allowing 27.5 ppg and 382.6 total ypg. The unit has appeared vulnerable to both the run (148.5 ypg) and pass (234.1 ypg) and has give up 16 of its 27 touchdowns on the ground. Stopping opponents on third downs has also been an issue for the Bears, who are allowing foes to convert 48 percent of the time.
Last weekend, Nebraska made good on 11-of-17 third down chances, as it held the ball for over 38 minutes of a 32-20 win over Baylor. The defense of the Bears gave up 497 total yards in the contest, well above their season average. Jordan Lake guided the defense in defeat with 15 stops and a forced fumble, while Earl Patin posted eight stops and two sacks. Joe Pawelek contributed 10 stops and he continues to be a tackling matching, leading the club with 92 on the year.
